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Lingakosa

ca. 8th–10th century
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
The act of religious patronage most singled out for attention in early inscriptions from Champa was the commissioning and installation of lingakosas, precious metal sheaths with a raised face of Shiva Mahadeva, sometimes encrusted with jewels. Sanskrit and Cham inscriptions of the sixth to eighth century make clear that lingakosas were gifts of the highest order, reserved for royal and other highranking donors and accruing much merit for their donors. The earliest confirmed reference to the installation of a lingakosa in a Cham temple ritual is in an inscription on a stele installed by King Prakasadharma-Vikrantavarman in 687.

cat. no. 89

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Lingakosa
  • Date: ca. 8th–10th century
  • Culture: Central Vietnam
  • Medium: Electrum
  • Dimensions: H. 11 in. (28 cm); W. 3 15/16 in. (10 cm); D. 5 1/2 in. (14 cm)
  • Classification: Sculpture
  • Credit Line: Lent by a private collection
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art